


Interstellar, Interplanar

by kimikani



Category: Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-25 23:46:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18712144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimikani/pseuds/kimikani
Summary: It is not uncommon for an entity originating outside of Earth to visit, led by the call of suffering, and discover something just on the verge of death.In some cases, they discover something just past the verge.





	Interstellar, Interplanar

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FleetSparrow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetSparrow/gifts).



On planet Earth, most creatures depend on elements that can be turned against them with the slightest adjustment. They breathe flammable air that reflects the rays of a nearby star which can give them burns and sickness, and another substance that they must absorb can drown, infect, and freeze them.

Not enough of one and too much of another is a simple recipe for decease for even the most powerful of Earth's life forms. It is not uncommon for an entity originating elsewhere to visit, led by the call of suffering, and discover something just on the verge of death.

In some cases, they discover something just past the verge.

One day, while the Earth's star was hidden behind clouds of pouring water, the false body and true mind of an extraterrestrial found its way onto the gleaming stone paths of a massive city.

There were noises of metal vehicles being pushed from inside, glass and wood fixtures being repositioned in towering structures, and the pads of feet being pressed onto and lifted from the ground.

There was also the sound of fear and desperation.

Nearby, a language that the extraterrestrial had studied for many an Earth year reverberated off of the wet concrete. The voice was needy, its owner losing faith that help would arrive. The visitor followed it under the reflective raindrops and glass light sources until it found a peculiar form that the light was passing through.

This was a mother who had lost her life but remained on her planet to continue protecting her children.

In her eyes and in her whispers, one could find the story of the days spent in blistering heat and flooded streets that had not been enough to still her breath. She had many children who had long since ventured away to face the world on their own, but there were five too young to do the same.

Though faded, the mother’s hair was visibly white in some places and black in others. Two of her children inherited the dual colors. Two had hair that was all black. The last one was wholly ginger. Together, they were the symbol of her history and everything she could have been.

Someone could always recognize them as hers, but as time drew on their stories would be their own. No one was ready for this transition, but they had to be.

The mother raised her voice, her mouth unopened. Her wishes reached her follower without passing through its ears. Her babies had to be shielded, she told it. They needed shelter and warmth, and it needed to provide those things for them.

Its studies left it underprepared for a task such as this, but something compelled it to make an attempt regardless. It readied itself for direct contact and grew to accommodate the additional bodies.

Their soft and airy hair, heavy with wetness but warmer than the free-falling water around them, felt bizarre against newly formed skin. Their carrier was inclined to take a moment to absorb the sensation and the knowledge it could later share, but the mother was supplying instructions that it could not afford to ignore.

At the mother’s beckoning, the nonnative hurried through alleys and around corners, unnoticed by passers by. Her determination was unfaltering, but her very shape was fragmenting. Wind seemed to erode her. Shadows and light alike sapped her color.

Emotions came off of her in waves. Affection for her babies, anger at the forces of nature, dread for what was to come. An opinion of inadequacy aimed at herself, but also a firm refusal to leave her home just yet.

The extraterrestrial could not discern its own feelings from the mother’s. It was becoming frantic, something that had never happened before. It had heard much about the short lifespans of these creatures, but it did not want them to end due to outside forces. It watched the mother flicker and knew it must find its own way to safety.

She had mentioned shelter and warmth. It looked out over the roofs of the many shops and houses and weighed its options. A place with electricity would be best, but a group of the needy was likely to be driven out. There were open areas with roofs of tin, but many were filled with massive steel vehicles.

It would need an empty place where nothing was likely to interfere let alone harm the children.

With this image in mind, it began to run. The mother was surprised but soon met its stride. Its lungs and heart were different from hers, but they burned with exertion much the same as hers would have were she solid.

She knew that the lives of her loves could be entrusted to this being. The waves of emotion spilling from her became entirely warm. Her helper consumed this energy with unspoken thanks as it rushed beneath the least occupied canopy it could find.

Once out of the rain, it changed its body once again. Legs meant for running and arms meant for holding became ones meant for resting and guarding. It felt heat wash all over it and, though she was nowhere to be seen, it understood that the mother was giving a final gift to her family.

The five young ones pressed themselves greedily into their savior’s chest, too tired to do much more than lay their heads where their breathing would not be hindered. Most of them trembled violently, but some did not gasp and shudder so.

The extraterrestrial simply looked on as they calmed. It admired their frail limbs and cores as they beat the odds. It observed their quivering whiskers and their flexing toes and imagined a future where they reigned as the glorious hunters and charming companions their species had grown to be.

In a way the foreign creature had only heard of before, a fondness and pride overcame it. The faintest purr came from all around it, a thank you from the children and their mother who was free to pass on.

The six stayed together until the nearby star was uncovered enough to warm and lead them. The champion had to move on, but it would be forever changed by this interaction.

So it knew and the world would later know, the barest interference of an equal had righted the five youth of Earth on their path to health and greatness.


End file.
